Jamie Lynn 101: Jamie Lynn Spears is sweet, polite and the star of Nickelodeon's Zoey 101. And, yes, she wears shoes to the restroom. We watched her like a hawk

Girls' Life, April-May, 2005 by Karen Bokram, Sandy Fertman Ryan

Jamie Lynn Spears is short--barely over 5 feet tall. You could probably lose her in an elevator.

Try imagining her, then, in a cavernous New York City Lower East Side photo studio, packed with her room, her older brother/manager Bryan, her personal publicist, her show's publicist, a hair professional, a makeup artist, a clothing stylist, the stylist's assistant, a Spears family friend, a security guard and someone whose job consisted of, as far as we could tell, sitting in a chair.

For such a small girl, the size of her entourage can mean only one thing--Big Star.

Of course, the term Big Star is relative. Literally, in Jamie Lynn's case. You think having a sib who's prom queen, head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school would be tough? That's tiddlywinks compared to having Britney Spears as your big sis. Even with--or maybe because of--the Britster's antics over the last year, she still garners the kind of attention reserved for The Biggest Star in the World.

Despite JLy's squadron of P.R. girls, somewhat frenetic glamour team and a bodyguard burly enough to single-handedly fend off a small invading army (all for a girl who could be slipped into a shipping box and sent back home to Brentwood, La., without anyone really noticing), hanging out with Jamie Lynn and her family is shockingly ... normal.

"Remember the time when I was little, Mama? You went out, and Bryan had a party? The next day you asked me what we all did, and I told you all about it!" Jamie Lynn explodes into giggles, then locks eyes with her mom and brother while her own brown-ish tresses get blond extensions glued on tight.

Bryan snorts. "Yeah, I remember that." Jamie Lynn may have a future as a Big Star but, clearly, has already had a career as a Big Snitch. "I couldn't do anything," Bryan says later. "Jamie Lynn would always spill the beans. It was nice she always wanted to be around Britney and me, but she'd end up telling my room everything we did!"

It is certainly hard to fathom that there's a Spears family secret any of us are missing out on. The entire world has had a front-row seat to what ended up amounting to quite an, um, interesting last year for Britney--two husbands, a cancelled concert tour, approximately 1,000 bags of Doritos and at least one very unfortunate barefoot trip to a gas station restroom (grody!). But as Jamie Lynn and company banter, the Spears clan comes off as just another close-knit family--nice morn, protective older brother and cool big sis who lets her borrow great clothes anytime JL wants.

Barely 14, Jamie Lynn already has perfected the Spears brand of lovely Southern manners (every woman is called "ma'am," and there is plenty of "please" and "thank you") and charm. JL already has learned that early Britney's teen-friendly "aw, shucks" modesty and gushy appreciation catch a lot more media flies than the now-Mrs. Federline's full-out exhibitionism and flip-fans-the-bird summer 2004 hostility.

Jamie Lynn sits patiently through the endless hair extension process, doesn't fidget in the makeup chair and agrees with almost everything the stylist sends her way ("That is so pretty! I love yellow!"). Fancy lunch? "Just a ham-and-cheese on white bread, please, ma'am." She's told that it can be grilled for her, and you'd think someone just offered her a free pony. "That would be great!"

If she were anyone else, it would be easy to write the "she's pretty talented, about to be a big star and still a girl just like you" story. But Jamie Lynn isn't just any other young celeb-in-the-making. She's friggin' Britney Spears' little sister. And that fact never seems to be far from anyone's mind.

It's a staggering three hours after she arrived for the shoot, and Jamie Lynn is finally sufficiently dressed, coiffed and made up. She's also dead tired and jonesing for some candy, a soda, anything to revive her. Never mind that any normal person's brain would go numb from that much primping (which basically amounts to sitting, sitting and more sitting, while people pull at your head and stare at your eyebrows like world peace depends on every hair staying in place).

On top of it, JL is exhausted from an early morning of tutoring. Jamie Lynn is a perky team player, but one learns that Happy Jamie only comes out after a morning of snoozing in. To her credit, she has no qualms about telling anyone how much she hates, hates, hates getting up early in the morning.

Jamie Lynn shuffles onto the set, settles in and smiles. Kinda. The photographer tries to get her into a groove, but Jamie Lynn ain't budgin'. Her publicist requests a music change (hello, JoJo) and the crew helpfully suggests she dance around to get some movement into the shots. Then a shocking admission: Jamie Lynn bluntly informs everyone that--gasp!--she can't dance. Yep, the girl whose older sister shimmied, slithered and shook her way into the hearts of fans everywhere can't so much as shuffle to the beat. Oops, Jamie Lynn is not gonna do that again.

Trouper that she is, Jamie Lynn does come up with her own variations on smiling and standing, and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief.